Which to use
“despensa” and “despesa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,290
- “despensa” frequency rank
- #15,784
- “despesa” frequency rank
- 40074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despensa | despesa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | repartimento do imóvel onde se guardam mantimentos; copa | ato ou efeito de despender |
Where the eye mixes despensa and despesa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. despensa runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against despesa's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses despensa with despesa
A purely visual mix-up. despensa (/dɨʃ.ˈpẽ.sɐ/) and despesa (/dɨʃ.ˈpe.zɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despensa is recorded at frequency rank #24,290, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈpẽ.sɐ/. despesa is at rank #15,784, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈpe.zɐ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 40074, this pair ranks #26,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despensa vs despesa
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "despensa": n. Private to "despesa": -.
"despensa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "despesa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "despensa" for "despesa" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "despensa" or "despesa" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "despensa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despesa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despensa" and "despesa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despensa vs dispensar". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #26,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.